Chainreactionworks, the popular creator of the loaded osCommerce version CRE Loaded “shot themselves in the foot”. Here is a brief recap of some recent events that took place over at CRELoaded.com.
“[...]After winning $5 million in venture capital only a few months ago, the company had removed its founder and president Sal Iozzia. Almost immediately the company began to act like a dictatorship, nearly destroying itself along with its community and goodwill. Without warning, the company began charging a recurring annual fee for even its most basic entry-level software program, CRE Loaded Standard Edition. When community members complained on its forum, the complaint was removed or the complainer banned. The newly-capitalized company also dropped the community beta testers who are the opinion leaders of the community. Affiliates and resellers were likewise ousted. A no-refunds policy was instituted. And those customers who had paid hundreds of dollars for the last few copies of the old 6.2 version were told tough luck, pay twice, you get no discount to upgrade to the new version.[...]”
Author: Kerry Watson
Source:
http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/technology/article.php/3777841
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“[...]I thought long and hard before writing this. I dislike categorizing someone else’s decisions as a bad example, but the mounting trail of actions on the part of the new CRE team comes together into some unmistakable patterns. I think an article about this, especially now, is both pertinent, and worth exploring to illustrate some points about business. I apologize for the negativity, but there just isn’t any way to be positive about this because it is SO CLEAR that what is happening is bad for everyone involved, ESPECIALLY the CRE developers. I’ve never seen someone so blatantly shoot themselves in the foot![...]”
Author: Laura Wheeler
Source:
http://frumpyhausfrau.com/business/creloadeds-bad-business-example/
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“[...]While I don’t support his use of the vernacular, his description of the unprofessional behavior of the Chain Reaction staff and Mr. Iozzia’s tolerance of it is pretty much correct . This does not bode well for Chain Reaction’s future.[...] In the meantime, Chris at oshelpers.com, after a brief bout of harrassment from Chain Reaction lawyers appears to be gaining some support from Chain Reaction - or at least a reprieve from their Cease and Desist demands, possibly because HIS branch/expansion requires his customers to buy CRE Loaded B2B from Chain Reaction. See Magnum MVS at oshelpers.com for details.[...]”
Author: David M. Graham
Source:
http://www.oscommerceuniversity.com/blog/?p=74
(I have commented on this on David’s blog)
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“[...]I gave up trying to provide feedback to CRE when we had over 15 of our CRE installations hacked and the FBI became involved. As a CRE user and community member we came to CRE to help us under stand how we had been compromised as well as to work together to find a solution and prevent further attacks. CRE was less than helpful. Actually dealing with CRE was downright painful and unpleasant. CRE talked to us in a condescending manner, acted as if they were GOD and we were nothing but peon’s. Then CRE had the gal to tell us that the compromise was not a CRE problem. If that were not bad enough to be talked to and treated like a dog CRE had lawyers (or at least people that represented themselves as lawyers) call us and threaten us if we pursued trying to solve our problems by seeking information from CRE and/or working with the FBI as well as if we talked about the incident in the public domain.
It was at this time that I realized CRE no longer cared about the end user and I started half heartedly looking at other solutions for the ecommerce needs of my clients and myself. Once the dust settled it was proven that there was an exploit in the CRE code, that left un-patched, would yield the shopping cart vunerable to attack. A simple conversation and understanding between CRE and us, the end user, could have solved this problem quickly and efficiently. Instead CRE Loaded blew the whole situation out of proportion all the while driving a wedge between the publisher and consumer/contributor. Yes that’s right, several people on our team have been contributors to CRE.
Did I leave CRE Loaded because of this, NO, I still stuck with CRE Loaded but I felt they had lost sight of their origins and had grown too large for their own good. The chase of the all mighty dollar was clouding the judgment of those we were dealing with.[...]”
Author: Kobie
Source: http://www.creloaded.com/forums/Forums/viewtopic/t=24174/postdays=0/postorder=asc/highlight=analytics/start=60.html
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“[...]I started using CRE in 2003 [I'm a poet and didn't know it!]. I was an active community member and volunteered my time here on a daily basis. I even did work for Sal until I was screwed out of $500. Then Sal suggested, right here in the forums some 2 or so years ago that I “support him.” Naturally, I went off on him for ripping me off and then suggesting that I kiss his ass while his whole plan was to rape the Open Source community of its hard work, sweat and tears. Needless to say, I was banned. No loss here. I went about giving away CRE to anyone who asked for it, still do and will continue to do so for as long as it exists. CRE is osCommerce… plain and simple. Its Open Source, released under GPL and free for the taking, distribution and SALE, if one so chooses! [...]
GREED was the reason for all the screw ups… not to mention the fact that Sal hired any bonehead that said he could code. Take Tom for example. Dude could not spell to save his life and many of the “bugs” were because he can’t spell. No matter… as long as Sal could get people to fork over $200-$300 for an open source application. Never mind that someone else took their time to code the features that all the ass kissers love so much. Features that can be found for free at osCommerce. Features that again, were coded by users of osCommerce and then provided to the open source community for FREE.[...]”
Author: msdesmarais
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Considering the fact that osHelpers still actively provides ongoing support and development services for 100s of CRE Loaded store owners, one may wonder how this situation affects us. Simple. Our clients come first, regardless of the backend. Whether osCommerce 2.2, osCMax, Magento, xCart, CRE 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, PRO, B2B, Magnum etc. we’ll always strive to provide you with the best possible experience in working with osHelpers. However, we will NOT be recommending CRE Loaded 6.3 to any of our clients. There are several reasons why. I am outlining this in my next blog entry.
